passion blossom
by faerie71
Summary: Post HBP What happens when our favourite trio finds out the truth about Snape, Draco and Dumbledor that defie the who purpose of the profecie? And if Voldemort really is defreated, how to inprove the Pure blood and muggle bor relations? READ AND REVIEW!
1. A whole new girl

**Chapter one**

"Hermione dear! Your Hogwarts letters have arrived!" yelled Mrs. Granger.

As soon as her mother had pronounced the words, Hermione ran out of her room and flung down the stairs, nearly knocking her father down, with such speed she could've won the Olympics. She snatched the letter out of her mother's hands and opened the envelope, then quickly scanned the pages. The two first pages were the usual: her welcome letter along with the list of the books she will be needing for her seventh year. However, the third one caught her attention, because it wasn't her normal prefect letter, even though it came with a badge. At the first few words, a frown started to form, but it only lasted a quarter of a second, because after that, with every word she read, her eyes and smile widened. It read:

_Dear Hermione Jane Granger,_

_We're sorry and proud to announce to you that you will not be maintaining your prefect tasks this year, due to the fact that you have been selected as this year's head girl! Our selection concerning the decision has been based on academic results, as well as comportment, after school involvement, trustworthiness and last but not least responsibility._

_Thanks to this title, you will be taking advantage, of a privet common room, compartment and bathroom shared with the head boy. _

_Congratulations on the title,_

_Professor M. McGonagall_

_P.S: Meet me the Hogwarts Express in the head's compartments at 10a.m. on the 5__th__ of September to discuss further your responsibilities, obtain the password to your common room, and finally meet the head boy._

By the time she finished the letter, tears of joy were running down her cheeks while she vigorously hugged both her parents. Before she knew it, she was practically skipping to her room to owl Harry and Ron the good news, and let them know she was going to join them to at the burrow 3 days before school started, which meant in two days in order to go school supply shopping on Diagon Alley. While writing the letters, she debated on whether or not she should tell them about her new, altered appearance, but decided not to ruin the surprise.

Hermione had changed allot over the summer. Due to the tragic events that occurred in her 6th year, with Dumbledore's death, she decided to boost her moral and take on the world with brand new confidence. Her hair was no longer bushy, but cascaded down her back in loose, sleek, elegant curls, with straight perfectly trimmed bangs parted at the sides. She also got rid of her icky brown hair color and replaced it with a deep wine color with reddish lowlights. Her skin had cleared up from all her stress related acne and also lost its yellowish tint due to the lack of sun exposure because of her excessive studying , only to reveal a flawless, delicate skin as soft as a baby's bottom. She got her braces removed ( her parents convinced her to get her teeth fixed the muggle way, with only a touch of magic to make the teeth move faster so they'd be fixed before the first school day) and her teeth whitened. However, her hair, skin and teeth, weren't the only things that changed, she had lost some of weight and her body turned out perfectly sculpted with all the right curves at the right places.

Hermione woke up in the crimson and gold bed sheets she had gotten last year for her birthday from Harry. They were damp in sweat and to top it all, her head was pounding because of her lack of sleep, which was caused by the excitement bought by the thought of seeing her friends the next day. She lay in bed for a couple of minutes, trying to figure out if she should magically heal her head ache or not, before finally heading to the bathroom cabinet and grab a pain relief medicine. She looked at herself in the mirror only to find her hair terribly messy: her bangs were all tangled and out of place, the loose bun on top of her head was falling apart and the curls it was supposed to hold were sticking out in every directions. She sight to her reflection, turned on the shower, undressed and stepped into it, letting the sensation of cool water and the sent of lavender wake up her senses.

After showering, she straighten her bangs, parting them at the sides (as usual) and curled the rest of her hair before putting it in a tight ponytail at the top of her head. She though of putting on some light make-up, but decided not to push the shock of her new appearance any further and causing Harry and Ron a heart attack. She smiled at the thought of her friends blushing furiously the way they did when pretty girls were around, only this time, she'd be the girl causing such a reaction.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she took a quick look at the clock that was hanging on the wall of the hallway, its arrows pointed at 10:37. Knowing she had to be at the portkey station at 11:30, and it took about 30 minutes to get there from her house, she knew she had about 20 minutes to get dressed, make sure she had packed everything in her trunks and put crookshrank in his cage. She walked into her room, opened her closet and slipped on a pair of dark jeans, and the nice spaghetti strapped red tang top Ginny Weasley, her best friend gave her. She walked over to the mirror, checked her self out and decided that the red tang top was way too revealing for her taste, so decided to put over it a black Adidas zip up sweater with red rims that showed off her wine hair color and creamy pale complexion._ Much better, I might have a different appearance, but inside, am still the good old "know-it-all Granger"_ she though with a sight. Once dressed, she walked over to her trunk to make sure she indeed had everything. In it, were about two dozens of quills, five books, to enjoy at the Burrow, about 15 cute muggle outfits, her toothbrush, some make up, perfume, a couple jewelries and accessories and pictures of her family. Although it seemed she had everything, Hermione couldn't help having the feeling that she had forgotten something. She double checked but still, she couldn't put her finger on it.

" Hermione! If you don't want to be late, then you better get down here pretty soon!" yelled her father

"Alright am coming in a second!" As she got up and started levitating her trunk along with Crookshrank's cage, something shiny sticking out from under the bed caught her eye, she reached down and took it in her hands. It was a thin, gold, neckless with a white amulet in the middle of it. She looked at it curiously for a while before realizing it was the emotion tagger Madame Pomfrey had offered her the year before. After watching Hermione go through so many shocks and emotional tragedies, the midi-witch decided the last thing the poor girl needed was to feel more confused about her feelings. The way the amulet worked was simple, the person pressed it against his or her heart and the amulet would change colors according to the emotion the user is feeling and the closer the person to whom the emotion was directed to was, the more the color would glow. After a couple of minutes, something in Hermione's head clicked _that's it _she thought _I forgot to pack the amulet!_ Glad of her realization, she quickly placed the amulet in her trunk along with the papers that explained which color was for which emotion, an rushed downstairs with her stuff to find her waiting parents ready to go.


	2. Shock and innocence at the Burrow

At the Burrow, things have changed allot. Thanks to the fortune Fred and George's joke shop brought them, the Weasleys were able to hire an interior designer and give their house such a makeover, it earned the17th place on _witch weekly'_s_ top _30 most desired wizarding estates, unfortunately also 17 places below Malfoy Manor who earned 1st place. It had and 18th century Victorian style, all the rooms of the house were colored in a deep midnight blue, except for the bedrooms which all had different colors depending on their occupants taste. All the doors were made of quality heavy white wood and had white thresholds, the floor was made of dark, expensive, auburn wood panels.

Down in the drawing room, which was beautifully decorated, Harry and Ron were involved in an intense wizarding chess game, while Ginny was sitting on the purple velvet sofa reading a romance novel, occasionally peeking at the window checking if Hermione was coming.

"At what time did she say she was coming?" Ron asked is mouth full of peanuts, looking up from the chess board, scanning the window, and then the big black clock on the wall, which pointed 12:00 to finally land on Harry.

"She said at 12:00, but you know how Mione' is, she always double checks everything especially when it come to school" Harry said in a lazy voice.

"Yeah, but it's also very unlikely of her to be late for anything and she's al-" Ron was cut off by a small knock coming from the front door.

They exchanged looks then all rushed to the front door to greet their friend but stopped in their tracks when they saw Mrs. Weasley talking to a stunningly pretty girl wearing dark denims and a red tank top with a black sweater over it. Her long curly wine hair was held on top of her head in a pony tail with her bangs gracefully covering most of her left eye giving her a mysterious look.

"Mrs. Weasley, it's me!" Mrs. Weasley smiled but Hermione could see the doubt and confusion in her eyes.

"Listen miss, if the ministry sent you for more questioning about-"

"MRS. WEASLEY! I'm not from the ministry! Don't you recognize me? It's me HERMIONE GRAGER!!!!!" Hermione cut off in desperation.

At these words Mrs. Weasley let out a gasp an put her hands over her mouth, Harry's jaw dropped, Ron nearly chocked on his peanuts and Ginny was left speechless, unable to believe the girl in front of them, who could've easily made the front page of _witch weekly _was their best friends. Hermione pasted in front of Mrs. Weasley flashing her a perfectly white smile and walked into the room, immediately spotting her friends. Before warning, she ran up to them and wrapped all three of them at the same time in a tight hug, causing both boys to blush the way he had predicted._ Good thing I didn't wear make-up_ she though.

" Oh my god, you have no idea how glad I am to see you guys again, I've missed you all so much!" Hermione said backing away from the hug.

" Don't worry we missed you too 'Mione so how was your summer?" Harry managed to say, finally getting his voice back.

"It was good, I got to catch up on all the lack of sleep from studying, and managed to relaxed and take care of myself."

"Well, we can clearly see that last part, you look amazing!" Ginny said smirking at her and giving her a tight hug.

"Yeah, bloody hell! What happened to you?" Ron asked looking her from head to toe with an eye full of lust. Causing Hermione blush uncomfortably.

Noticing her awkwardness, Ginny quickly suggested to show her room to Hermione. She was thankful for the redhead's quick thinking and followed her up the stairs to her room, looking around the beautifully decorated house. Ginny's room was just like she had imagine it. It was now painted jade green and opposite to the door, her old small window was replaced by a huge one nearly taking the whole wall, and was covered by two layers of majestic cream-colored curtains. The first layer was made out of a white sheer fabric while the second on top was made out of thick cream colored fabric. On the left wall, was a double bed covered by a light yellow bed spread and many pillows. Opposite to the bed and adjacent to the window sat a cute white vanity table with three mirrors and many beauty products.

"Wow it's just like you described in the letters! Beautiful room Gin. Really, it's gorgeous!" Hermione commented with a warm smile on her face.

"Thanks, contrarily to all the other rooms, I designed this one." Ginny said, proud of her accomplishment and returning the smile. " Anyways enough about the room. Let's talk about the important stuff" the redhead said her eyes full of malice.

" What do you mean? Hermione asked slightly confused by the question.

"Oh! Come on 'Mione! You turned gorgeous over night and I want to know the motive behind this sudden change!" Ginny asked eagerly, settling her self on the bed and dragging Hermione along with her.

" Seriously Gin. You obviously don't know what your talking about!" Hermione said slightly blushing. She had never been good at hiding her emotions or lying.

"HERMIONE JANE GRANGER! Don't lie to me! I've known you for six year, and I can tell you right now that you were never one do anything without a reason, especially not groom up. So now tell me what's his name? Or perhaps is it the fact you'll be sharing a common room with a boy all year?" Ginny replied smirking, Hermione blushed even harder, and then sight, knowing there was no escaping.

"But as you're my only best friend who happens to be a girl, you deserve to know." Hermione paused and thought carefully before answering " All these years, I was known for nothing more than being an annoying know-it-all bookworm, and with everything that happened last year, the last thing I need this year is for people to bring me down even lower. So after reading this book I found at the muggle library, I realized that the only thing that can stop me from accomplishing everything I have in mind is confidence, So I thought that maybe fixing my appearance could help me regain my confidence and help me have the courage to show my face instead of burying it in a book." By the time she finished explaining, her eyes were full of pain as hot, salty tears started forming to slowly roll down her cheeks.

"Oh no! Listen to me, don't ever listen to what anyone says and don't let anyone bring you down! You're beautiful, smart, funny, you got a family and friends who love you and care for you. You'd be surprised at the amount of people who'd kill for a life like that!" Ginny said firmly, hugging her friend so hard she nearly choked her.

Ginny Weasley was one of the few people Hermione admired the most. Not only had she one of the most remarkable personalities around, but she had also had a very strong character. She wasn't one to be bossed around, she always stood her grounds and stood up for her friends during confrontations. When it came to her friends, she'd be ready to take an unforgivable curse anytime for them. However, as nice as Ginny was, she was short tempered and could easily become deadly when pushed to the limits, her strong personality intimidated many students at Hogwarts (mostly Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws),but, when it came to Gryffindor and Slytherins, Hogwarts was a world of quick insults and snappy comebacks. The other grate thing about this redhead was that she had no problem causing a scene since she never really cared what people thought of her, except when it came to a certain green eyed boy with black hair and a scar. In fact, her personality and character had such influence on people she quickly became one of the most popular girls at school. As if all that wasn't enough, Ginny was no doubt also popular to boys of all houses ( even Slytherins although they'll never admit feeling of a Gryffindor), with her silky red hair, emerald green eyes, cute dimples, well toned skin and curvy body. No doubt there, Ginny was on the list of prettiest girls.

Hermione and Ginny had woken up early to get ready for their trip to Diagon Alley. By 10:00, both girls had showered, dressed and were ready to go, while both boys were still peacefully asleep.

"You look amazing, sure to catch some hotties !" Ginny said winking as Hermione stepped out of the room "Where did u get the lace top?" she added eyeing her pink lace shirt. She was wearing a white tank top with a pink see-through lace sleeveless shirt with a deep V-neck, over it. As for bottoms, she was wearing dark blue Skinny Jeans, that accentuated her slender legs, with lace-up black ballet flats. Her hair was loose and slightly wavy, while the bangs were held back from her face with a clip. Still, she decided to save her make-up for later.

"Thank you, You look great too! Oh this? I got it at this muggle store near my house." Hermione replied pointing at her shirt. Ginny looked great as always, she was wearing a pistachios green halter top with black Bermuda shorts, and a pair of flip-flops that matched her top. Her copper hair was tied back in a high ponytail at the back of her head, leaving only a few strand loose framing her face. She was wearing light make up that consisted of a light green eye-shadow that brought out her yes, some black mascara and sheer lip-gloss.

Just when they were about to head downstairs, they heard the Ron's door open, and both boys stepped out of the room in their sleepwear's, which for Harry were P.J. pants and no shirt and Ron's were a pair of navy boxers and a tight black muscle shirt, too sleepy to notice the girls standing there. Ginny had an amused look on her face while Hermione as red as Ginny's hair.

"Had a good night sleep boys?" Ginny asked in an amused voice. With that comments the boys' eyes shot open. Ron ran back into the room, while Harry blushed and smiled sheepishly, running a hand through his black hair the way he did when he was embarrassed or nervous.

"Quite good, thank you. Er... I'll go get dressed now." He said going back into the room to join Ron. With that, the girls continued downstairs bursting with laughter. Hermione had noticed both her friends got built over the summer. Ron grew a few inches taller but had always been built and strong, but Harry had developed almost as much a she did. He was no longer the scrawny little boy he used to be, he was now about 6 feet tall, had broad shoulders, built arms, a muscular chest and nice abs. She wouldn't be surprised to see him as most popular boy at school.

"That was priceless! Did you see Ron's face!" Ginny said as they settled themselves at the dining table for breakfast. " I think with you being so pretty and all, you're making him more nervous then usual" She added winking at her and giving her you-know-am-right smile. At that comment, Hermione raised an eyebrow, then smiled.

"You really think so? Did I change that much?" She asked still smiling.

"Absolutely, you totally got _it_, I got a feeling you're going to be the prettiest and most popular girl in your grade, no, scratch that last in Gryffindor wait no THE WHOLE SCHOOL ! You and me are going to be what everyone talks about! Think about it." Ginny said enthusiastically, her eyes glazed.

"Seriously Gin, let's not get carried away. _You _are the most popular girl at school and will be again this year, but me, know-it-all Granger? Doubt it." Hermione said looking down at her toast.

"Yes you, you'll see how many heads you can turn once in Diagon Alley. And you're not a know-it all, there's so much more to. So don't let the stupid Slytherins get to you! Oh and one last thing, KEPP YOUR HEAD UP NO MATTER WHAT." At those words Hermione smiled. She was so lucky to have a friend like Ginny to boost her confidence.

"Your right. We'll rule this school!" She replied giving Ginny a high- five. She reached over and grabbed a copy of _the daily prophet_, and started reading. She suddenly spat out her pumpkin juice and gasped, her eyes full of shock and horror. Before Ginny could ask what was wrong, Hermione handed her the paper. Shocked, the red head fell off her chair. The front page of the paper read : _Voldermort Killed _and the first few lines said _Order of the phoenix's undercover insiders Minevra McGonagall and Molly Weasley told us it was on Albus Dumbledore's plan to have undercover agents Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy, kill him last year in order to fool Voldemort into trusting them. "The hardest part was to gain Voldemort's trust, but after having it, he told us were his horocrux was and aster that it was easy to destroy him" Draco Malfoy reported yesterday at a press conference..._ After only reading the first few lines, Ginny was already fuming with rage.

"MUM! MUM GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" she yelled in anger, just as the boys entered the dining room.

"Bloody hell, what's wrong with you! We're not in a jungle, so don't yell like that." Ron said as he took a seat next to Hermione.

"What wrong with me! Well why don't you take a look?" Seeing Malfoy and Snape's picture on the front page, he snatched the pager from his sister's hands, and started to read. With every word he read, his anger was increasing. Harry, who was standing behind Ron, reading over his shoulder, turned as white as a ghost. Just then, Mrs. Weasley ran in the room looking worried.

"What's wrong? Is everything alright?" she asked out of breath when she saw their expressions.

"No everything's not alright! Why did you hide it from us? In case you forgot the prophecy was about Harry, our _friend, _being the hero, not _Malfoy_ and _Snape _!" Ron said shaking in such anger Harry and Hermione were holding him from jumping on his mother. Mrs. Weasley's expression went from worry to understanding.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you, but all the members of the order made an unbreakable vow not to tell anyone outside the order. You see, Albus, god bless him, knew exactly how much of a powerful wizard he-who-"

"Mum, cut it off already! He's dead." Said Ginny rolling her eyes

"Yes, so he new how powerful V-Voldemort was. So in the middle of your 6th year, Draco told him that he didn't want to be a Death Eater, that he didn't want to kill him, and that he wanted to switch sides. So with Draco's confession of Voldemort's plan, Albus didn't want to risk Harry's life, since he knew that the only way of destroying him would be by fooling him into trusting people who he thought on his side, but really were on our's." Mrs. Weasley's voice was so full of emotion that everyone instantly knew she wasn't kidding.

"So he scarified everything for Harry's safety." Hermione said a single tear trailing down her cheek. At that word, Mrs. Weasley's lip curled into a smile and her green eyes glistened

" Not everything, see, since we all knew Severus was supposed to kill Albus , Minevra McGonagall ,Severus Snape, Alstor Moody, Reemus Lupin and Albus Dumbledore himself tried to come up with a very complicated illusion charm to make it _look_ like Severus was using Avada Kedavra , but unfortunately it didn't work-"

"So why are you smiling! It didn't even work! And if all these wizards and witches couldn't come up with-" Ron started, but was cut off by Hermione giving him a warning look.

"Shut up Ron! Let her continue. Go on Mrs. Weasley." Hermione said giving her a smile.

"Thank you dear, so as I was saying it didn't work, but then Fred and George came up-"

"FRED AND GEORGE! Bloody hell! Nice one! It's-"

"RON!!!" Ginny and Hermione yelled in at the same time. Then Ron mumbled something nobody heard.

" So as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, ah, yes Fred and George came up with these amazing make-believe wands. The way they work is whenever someone tries to use an unforgivable curse, the wand makes it look like they actually hit the person with the curse, but they really only shot a jet of light towards the 'victim'. So Snape ended up using one of those wands to fool the Death Eaters " Mrs. Weasley said matter-of-factly, smiling at everybody's confused reactions.

" You mean Dumbledore wasn't actually hit by Avada Kedavra, but only by a jet of inoffensive green light?" Hermione said more to herself than anybody else. Mrs. Weasley nodded at the brunette's quick thinking. " But then that would mean Dumbledore's still alive?" Hermione said shocked at the realization.

" You'll find out find out quick enough on the first day of school." The older redhead said giving them a smile. " But right now, you should concentrate on buying your school supplies before the stores closes." She added before leaving the kitchen and letting the four teens in shock.


	3. Quick insults and snapy comebacks

By the time they got to the leaky cauldron, it was 1:00 P.M.. The boys choseto separate from the girls, pretending they we're better off shopping for "guy stuff" alone and decided to meet up at 6:30 , even though the girls knew they would probably head to the Quidditch shop, but still, they weren't complaining.

After the boys left, Hermione and Ginny started walking up the alley and stepped into this brand new clothing store that opened last month that was apparently the new sensation. The store front was small, but the inside was huge. It had techno music playing so loud both girls could feel the bass drumming on their chest. Inside it was dark with various colored lights dancing around , it also had white flashes every 5 seconds for dramatic effects and a charm was place onto the store's ceiling to make it look like a night sky with stars and another charm to make the store smell like tropical fruits. The sales girls were dressed in such revealing outfits, Hermione thought this store looked more like a night club than anything else.

" This place is awesome! I totally Love it!" Ginny yelled so Hermione could hear her over the music.

" It's not really my kind of store. It looks more like a night club then a store" She replied

" Oh come on 'Mione! That's what makes it awesome, it's so different!" Ginny said rolling her arms and dragging Hermione deeper into the store.

Hermione started looking through the racks, when she saw Pansy Parkinson and her Slytherin gang, which included Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Blaise Zabini, Millicent Bulstrode, some girls who's names she didn't know and to her great dismay, Draco Malfoy. His blond hair was no longer gelled back, but fell gracefully over his eyes, and like Harry, he looked allot more built then the last time she had saw him. No matter how much she tried to, there was no denying he looked great. She was looking at them, when she saw Zabini nudge Malfoy and tell him something she couldn't make out, and then point her out. She swallowed hard when she saw Malfoy look at her, with his piercing grey eyes and Pansy give her a death glare. She was not up for a confrontation, so she quickly, she turned around and went to find Ginny and get out of the store. When she found Ginny, she was on her way to the fitting room to try on a couple of robes.

" Ginny, can we please go somewhere else? I just saw Malfoy and his crew and-" As soon as she mentioned his name Ginny turned red with anger and put the robes in a random rack, who were magically levitated to their original rack.

" Where is he? What did they do" she asked looking at her friend in the eyes.

" Down there" she said pointing to the aisle she saw them "they didn't do anything, just looked at me weirdly now lets go." Hermione motioned towards the door but her friend didn't, in fact, she went the opposite way to where Hermione pointed seconds ago. She mentally slapped herself for telling her, she should've known something like this would happen. She ran after her red haired friend, but by the time she arrived, Ginny was already in a fight with the Slytherin gang. Hermione knew she should go stand by Ginny's side, but she wouldn't bear standing so close to Malfoy, whether he was innocent or not, she didn't care, she would never, ever, forgive him for all he's done to her. So instead, she hid behind a near-by rack and listened in to the fight, wishing she was as bold as Ginny.

" The second hand store is right down the street, Weaslette, or do you want me to escort you there. In case you haven't noticed, this store is too hot for you." Pansy said laughing at her own joke along with her Slytherin gang. Ginny narrowed her eyes, stood at her full height and put a hand on her hip and gave a fake smile.

" That's kind of rich coming from a pug faced slutty little bitch such as yourself, don't you think Pansy?" Ginny said with fake sweetness as the boys on Pansy's side were struggling to keep from bursting out with laughter. The boys might have been Slytherins, but for them to pretend they didn't think of Ginny as pretty would've been a bold face lie, and Ginny was well aware of it. Pansy turned red, but decided she wouldn't let her self get embarrassed in front of Draco.

" Whatever Weaslette, why don't you go buy your self a house!" Pansy replied, proud of her comeback and expecting everyone to laugh, however, when they didn't, she felt even more anger.

" Oh wow! What a comeback!" Ginny replied sarcastically "I would've expected better from a Slytherin. And if you read _witch weekly_ which obviously, I can tell you didn't based on the way you dress" she said eying her from head to toe "you would've know my house was 17th on the top 30 most desired estates." She said smirking at her.

" Also 17 places below Malfoy manor." Malfoy said smirking back and crossing his strong arms over his chest. As he said this Pansy's face lit up knowing her dear Malfoy came to her rescue.

" Shut your mouth ferret-boy" Ginny snapped Coldly her eyes shooting daggers. " Wasn't talking to you" With that she turned on her heels about to leave when Pansy yelled

" Don't forget to say hi to the bushy-haired, buck-toothed know-it-all mudblood" Pansy said her voice full of hatred as her friends laughed. That last comment left Ginny confused, didn't they just see her? Did they recognize her? She knew she had to check.

" Why didn't you say it yourself?" Ginny asked.

" The mudblood's here? Well, if I would've seen her, I would have given her a very special hello.." Pansy replied her eyes full of malice. With that answer, Hermione knew they didn't recognize her. And so did Ginny she also knew for a fact that Pansy was only looking at her friend in jealously. She couldn't wait for the first day of school to see Pansy's face when she figures out the gorgeous girl stealing all the boys' heart is Hermione, not that she had any boys, because everyone knew even ferret-boy couldn't stand her, but was only using her.

"Whatever Pansy" And with that she left to go find Hermione.

After leaving the night-club-like store, who's name turned out to be _Ecstasy_, they went to many other stores and bought everything they needed before heading back to the Leaky Cauldron. They found an empty table and ordered two butterbeers.

" You really put Parkinson back in her place earlier." Hermione said taking a sip from her drink " I can't believe she'd didn't recognize me!" she continued, still shocked from the thought of it.

" My pleasure, and of course she didn't recognize you., even _I_ didn't recognize you when I first saw you" Ginny said smiling " But anyways, that chat with Pansy was fun, you know am always up for some Slytherin butt kicking, did you see her face every time I dissed her? PRICELESS ." She said laughing when she recalled Pansy's shocked face. " You have to admit though, Malfoy turned pretty hot." She continued in an amused voice.

" Please, not even," she lied blushing a little bit " I thought you of all people would have a better taste, can't you see he's nothing more than a spoiled, arrogant brat." she finished raising an eyebrow.

" First of all 'Mione you're and awful liar" Ginny said matter-of-factly before adding "Second of all, the fact that he's a 'spoiled, arrogant brat' doesn't change the fact that he looks good."

" Oh, Alright, Alright! You win, he might not be _that_ bad looking, but I still don't like him" Hermione mumbled. Just then, Harry walked though the doors of the pub and spotted them.

" We're done our shopping. Are you?" Harry asked clearly exhausted, raising his shopping bags for the girls to see.

" Yeah, we're done" Ginny said pointing at their shopping bags on the floor " Well it's already a quarter 'till seven, maybe we should get going, we don't want to miss our train tomorrow." She added looking at her watch, then standing up.

" Can't we stay a little bit longer, Harry and I still didn't get our butterbeer." Ron whined.

" Well that's your fault Ronald, you're the one who came 15 minutes late!" Hermione said annoyed with his childish actions. " And beside, we have to get to King's Cross station extra early because I have to meet professor McGonagall at 10:00 tomorrow morning to meet the head boy and go over our duties." Hermione said following Ginny to the fire place with her shopping bags and grabbed some Floo powder and yelled "the Burrow!" before dispersing into the flame and appearing at the Burrow seconds after Ginny had, followed a few minutes later by Harry and a disappointed Ron.


	4. worst nightmare

**Chapter 4**

That night, Hermione was so excited about going back to school, she barely slept. The next morning, everybody woke up at 6:30 A.M. to get ready and pack the things they bought the day before. As usual, the girls were ready before the boys even woke up. Hermione was wearing a tight baby pink sports T-shirt, that showed off her slim, yet curvy silhouette, with a pair of equally tight black capris that sopped right bellow her knees, revealing her well shaped calves, for the shoes, she went for the same flats as yesterday.

Her Hair was down and cascaded down her back in loose curls while her bangs were straight. She wore light make-up, after Ginny forced her to: her cinnamon eyes were contoured by very thin black eyeliner and a pale pink eye shadow to match her top, while her small, but full, pink lips had the slightest trace of lip-gloss.

" Oh my gosh! Hermione, you looked good without make-up, with it you're gorgeous! No guy can resist this!" she Ginny said pointing up and down at her. Hermione blushed then frowned when she took a good look at the red head's outfit. She was wearing turquoise, strapless ,baby doll kind of top that was tight around the chest area, but flowed down the rest of her upper body. For bottoms, she wore a black skirt , that was so short it looked more like a large belt then a skirt, and stilettos with three inches heels, that matched the color of her top. Her hair was down and had a charm on it to wave it, an as usual, her make up matched her outfit.

" Thank you, you look great too, but I your skirt is way too short., and I don't want people calling you a slut on our first day." Ginny opened her mouth to speak, but she quickly added "I know, I know, you don't care what people say, but still, really think your mom and Ron would let you out of the house dressed like that?" Hermione said her left eyebrow arched and a lopsided smile on her face." I don't think so."

" Fist off, I royally don't care about anything Ron says" Ginny said, annoyance in her voice, but then smiled and added " and second of all, you're right, am no Pansy Parkinson, am more respectable than that. But the thing, I don't feel like redoing my make up. And besides, except for the length of the skirt and the size of the heels, I really like this outfit, it's cute." She added in a regretful voice, wrinkling her nose. After a few seconds of thinking, Hermione grabbed her wand, pointed it at Ginny's skirt and mumbled a spell that made the it about 3.5 inches longer, making it only 3 inches above the knee, and repeated the spell to her sandals, making the heel an inch smaller.

" Much cuter, and less slutty" Hermione said proud of her accomplishment.

" Wow! Thanks, you're good, really good, you got to teach me some of you tricks sometime" Ginny said checking herself out in the mirror before reaching for her friends's hand and heading downstairs for some breakfast.

In the kitchen, was the usual first-day-of-school chaos. Mrs. Weasley was yelling at George Weasley for bewitching Ron's books, and making them chase him around the house, trying to bite him. Harry and Ron, who always wait for the last minute to do everything , were allover the place trying to get ready and gather the things they need, because they were leaving for King's cross station in half an hour.

It was only 9:00 A.M., and King's Cross Station's platform 9 ¾ was already boiling with student and their families. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Harry Ginny and Hermione pushed through until they finally reached an empty bench.

" Hey, I think I just saw Padma Patil, let's go talk to her!" she said giving Hermione a look, that clearly said 'just go with it'.

" Er.. yes, I think I just saw her too." Hermione said with confusion in her voice the older Weasleys didn't seem to catch.

"We'll be right back mum, dad," she said looking at both her parents.

" Alright, be back in half an hour minutes though, so we can have a proper good bye." Mr. Weasley said, giving them a kind smile.

"And please be careful! And stay together. Hermione, please keep an eye on her" Mrs. Weasley added slightly worried.

" Don't worry, I will." Hermione said convincingly, laughing at the face her friend made.

After leaving the rest of the group behind, Hermione and Ginny walked around the crowded platform looking for people they knew, their arms liked to avoid getting lost. Hermione couldn't help noticing all the boys, some of them who used to despise her, looking at her and giving her flirtatious smiles. She suddenly snap out of her trance by a familiar voice talking to Ginny, she turned around to see Lavender Brown greeting her friend and looking at her questioningly.

" Oh Ginny, I totally love what you're wearing, totally hot" Lavender said, being her usual preppy self " Hi am Lavender, a sixth year Gryffindor, are you new? Although you look sort of familiar, like I've seen you somewhere." Lavender asked smiling at Hermione. Taken aback by the question , she was speechless, and a thousand question were running through her mind. Ginny burst out laughing like Lavender had just said the funniest joke ever.

" Her?" she said pointing at Hermione, once she stopped laughing " She not new! It's none other than our good old Hermione!" She finished. Lavender's jaw dropped open, and stared at Hermione n amazement.

" Oh-my-god! No way! It can't be. Seriously?" She asked her eyes as wide as a Quidditch snitch. Ginny nodded, while Hermione stood awkwardly wondering how she should act. " Wow. You look amazing! You changed so much over the summer, so tell me, what's his name?" Lavender said smiling maliciously at Hermione.

" Why does everybody think I changed for a boy, I mean by now, everyone should know am not that type" She mumbled, as a blush spread across her face.

" Oh please! Don't think we forgot how you looked for Krum at the Yule Ball in our fourth year!" she reminded as Ginny giggled.

" She got a point." The copper haired girls added smiling, as Hermione shot her a glare. " Anyways, who do you think the head boy will be?" Ginny said changing the subject. " My bet is it's probably be either a Ravenclaw or another Gryffindor" Ginny said thoughtful.

" I understand why it wouldn't be a Hufflepuff, but why wouldn't it be a Slytherin? And what do you mean by _'another Gryffindor' _? she asked incredulously.

" Well, as Hermione was selected as head girl, I doubt McGonagall would be as crazy as make a Gryffindor and a Slytherin share a common room, god know what could happen" Ginny said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world " And whatever its, it wouldn't be pretty" she quickly added when she saw the malicious look on Lavender's face.

" Oh, no, I totally forgot, I have to meet the Patil twins soon" she said loking at her watch " And, congratulations on the title 'Mione! Am sure you'll make a wicked head girl, just try to keep it clean with the head boy" she said smiling devilishly and then inked at her, before disappearing into the crowed, leaving a scarlet Hermione behind.

After meeting and greeting some more students they knew, who were all as shocked by Hermione's appearance as Lavender, they headed back to where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sitting with Ron and Harry. The four teens spent the next half hour saying good bye to the older Weasleys and Tonks an Lupin, then Harry, Ron and Hermione headed towards the train, leaving a slightly disappointed Ginny behind. Harry and Ron lest to meet professor Flitwick while Hermione left to meet professor McGonagall and the other prefects/heads of the house.

Meanwhile, Malfoy was sitting on a bench against the wall, surrounded by his friends, and had Pansy Parkinson sitting on his lap stoking his platinum blond hair, when he saw Zabini staring at some girls. He leaned over and held his breath when he saw who Zabini was looking at, it was the pretty dark haired girl he saw the other day at that store on Diagon Alley. He kept following her with his eye, but then smirked when he saw she was with Potty, the Weasel and the Weaslette. He was them heading towards the train and suddenly remembered he had to meet McGonagall.

After separating from her friends, Hermione walked down the empty train until she found the Head's compartment, which was empty except for professor McGonagall who was already sitting sipping on a cup of tea.

" The train doesn't accept students aboard until 15'til 11:00 miss." the older witch said raising an eyebrow and looking at Hermione suspiciously.

" But professor, you're the one who told me to meet you here and at this time" Hermione replied slightly worried, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the letter with the badge, and hading it in to McGonagall.

" Oh, miss, Granger, I didn't recognize you. Take a seat, while we wait for the Head boy." She said in an emotionless voice. Hermione sat down opposite to her professor and looked out of the compartment window, trying to ignore the awkward silence between them. Aster a couple of minutes, the compartment door slid open, to reveal none other then Draco Malfoy stepping in.

" Great, now that the both of you are her, we can start. In know the two of you already know each other, but we still have to do this officially, so Mr. Malfoy, meet your head girls, Miss Hermione Granger, Gryffindor" When she saw his reaction, Hermione knew he was as displeased about this as she was. " Miss Granger, meet you head boy Mr. Draco Malfoy, Slytherin." McGonagall ignore both of their groans and continued " Now I presume you're wondering why professor Dumbldor, who recently returned, has chosen the both of you?" she asked before neither could ask. Both teens nodded, and she went on. " Well it's quite simple you see, with Voldemort dead and all, professor Dumbledore wanted to encourage the pureblood/ muggle-born relationship in the school, and by putting the both of you as Heads, you could hopefully collaborate with one another, and set an example." Hermione nodded hesitantly, while Malfoy simply smirked his trade mark smirk.

" As for your duties, the prefects will be patrolling the train from 11 to 1, then you two will take the shift from 1 to 3 and the rest will be done by the prefects. Your duties at school will mainly be to patrol the corridors at nine and make sure everyone is in their common room, making sure the rules are followed and give appropriate punishment if they're not, without any discrimination based on the houses, and finally organize two balls and the 7th years graduation party. Do I make myself clear?" McGonagall said her lips pursed and waited for their approval, and when they both nodded, she added " I will be ushering the students in with the prefects, you can go back to meet up with your friends if you wish, as long as you don't forget your train duties at 1:00." And then left the two of them alone in the heads compartment in an awkward silence. A few seconds after McGonagall left, Hermione groaned and then stood up to leave, when she heard Malfoy's cold voice.

" What are _you_ complaining about granger, in case you haven't noticed, _I'm _the one stuck with a filthy mudblood." he said throwing up a coin and catching back in his hand " If anyone should be complaining, it should be- Before he could finish his sentence, Hermione stormed out of the compartment, slamming the door behind her so hard, it earned her the glares of many students, and went to find Ginny, since Harry and Ron would be doing prefect duties. By the time she found Ginny, she was fully crying and students were looking at her questioningly.

" Hermione! What happened to you?" Ginny in a concerned voice as she opened the door of her compartment.

" M-Malfoy" She mumbled the through sobs that were escaping her.

"What about Malfoy? Did the ferret hurt you?" She asked her green eyes flashing angrily.

" He...He's the...head boy!" she said as she cried harder. Ginny gasped and gave the brunette a tight hug, feeling sorry for her friend, knowing the ferret would make her friend's life miserable.

" Shh...it's ok, you know if he does anything to you, Harry, Ron and I are ready to hex him to insanity anytime." She said soothingly happy her friend was now smiling

"Thanks, you guys are amazing, I don't know what I would do without you, Harry and Ron." She said wiping her tears away with the handkerchief Ginny handed her.

After Hermione left, Draco went to find his friends' compartment. He couldn't believe her would be sharing a common room with mudbood Granger for a whole year. Although he would never admit to anyone else, he had to say, Granger had turned almost decent over the summer, she looked like a whole new girl, and besides, sharing a common room with her also means more chances to make her life miserable. _This is going to be an interesting year_, he thought putting on his trade mark smirk. His thoughts were however interrupted by a familiar squeaky voice that came from behind him, he turned around only to find Pansy Parkinson running up to him, pushing the students in her way and waving her hands in the air like a mad woman.

" Oh, Drakie, you missed our compartment, thank goodness I saw you." she said snaking her arms around his neck and leaned over to kiss him, however he shoved her to the side and turned around to go to his compartment, where he found Blaise Zabini, his best friend, looking terribly bored, as Goyle was telling him some lame story. Inside, he felt sorry for his friend, since he had experienced Goyle's stories, he knew they were compatible to a 7 years old's and could get extremely boring. As Draco stepped in, Blaise quickly sat up, obviously relieved he could talk to someone with a higher intellect level.

" So, who's the lucky head girl?" Blaise asked smirking , pushing back a lock of his silky black hair. "Is she hot?" he added his eyebrow raised. As soon as the second question was asked, Pansy sat up straight, nervously waiting for his answer.

" The mudblood, Granger" Draco mumbled spiting the girl's last name like it was poison, and decided to avoid addressing the second question.

" I over heard some guys talking about her earlier," he paused thinking of a way to phrase what he was going to say next. " I think I heard them saying she turned _Gorgeous_, first I thought they couldn't be talking about mudblood , but then most of the guys, and girls I crossed were saying pretty much the same thing. So I'm curious, is it true?" He asked waiting for the blonde's answer.

" Oh please, mudblood and gorgeous can't go in the same sentence unless the word _isn't_ is between them." Pansy rolling her eyes, as the two idiots (Crabbe and Goyle) were shrieking with laughter. Before warning, Draco grabbed his best friend's arm and pulled him out of the compartement, leaving a confused Pansy and the two idiot inside.

" Remember that girl you pointed out at that new store on Diagon Alley?" Draco asked once out of earshot, Zabini nodded a bit confused, but smiling as he recalled the memory of the pretty girl.

" Yea, that chick was a hottie, though she looked sort of familiar , we would've talked to her, if it weren't for Pansy scaring very other girl around. But why are you asking?" the dark haired boy asked his amused look, being replaced by one of suspicion and finally one of understanding. " If Granger looks half as good as that girl, mate, she already beats half the girls in the school or maybe a bit more" Zabini said thoughtful.

" The girl was Granger." He said simply, as he watched his friend shocked expression.

" Seriously?" He asked, Draco nodded. " That's why she seemed familiar." Blaise murmure more to himself than Draco. " Well if that's the case, what the hell are complaining about? Mudblood or not, she's got a going-on, I mean, damn , who knew Granger had it in her?"" He finished, then winked at his friend before leaving for their compartment. Soon after, Draco followed.

Hermione was still talking with Ginny about the whole Malfoy thing when Harry and Ron entered the compartment, looking angry.

" Why didn't you tell us the head boy was Malfoy!" Ron billowed angrily, while Harry trie to clam him down.

" Well did it ever occur to you that _maybe_, I wasn't aware of it" Hermione yelled back annoyed with her friend's inability to understand her. Ron then mumbled something that sounded allot like ' then why didn't you decline the title'.

" Why would I decline? If you were my _friend_, then you would be supportive and tell me to hang on, instead of pushing me into giving up. By now Ronald, you should know I'm not a quitter" she said as she felt a new round of tears roll down her cheek.

" Don't worry 'Mione, he doesn't know what he's saying, we're your friends, and we''' support you 100 through it." Harry said hugging her, while thowing a sharp look at Ron over her shoulder. " but right now, don't forget you have head's duty. And be strong." With this reminder, the brunette gasped, and ran out of the compartment. She suddenly slowed down when she remembered she might have to go get Malfoy, considering her probably forgot.

Draco was sitting in his compartment, pretending to be listening to Pansy's rambling about how unattractive granger was, while Blaise was looking out of the window, a far-away look in his eyes. At that moment, Pucey, another fellow Slytherin walked in, gaining everyone's attention, then looked maliciously at Malfoy.

" Some complete babe's looking for you, she said something about head's duty." He said winking at the blonde. He would've broken into a smile, if it wasn't for the stupid 'Malfoys never show their true emotions' rule. So instead he rolled his eyes and tried his best to look annoyed. Then Pansy stood up, shrieking with laughter.

" You know you just called mudblood Granger a 'babe'" Pansy said trying, but failing to hide the jealously in the laughter.

" Oh, that was her? Oh well, the girl's pretty hot now" Pucey replied coldly. " Being Pureblooded doesn't exactly make someone anymore attractive. I mean look at yourself Pansy, not exactly what a guy would dream of." He said as Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle nearly choked to death laughing, while Pansy nearly turned purple. Pucey had never really had anything against muggle-borns, especially not Hermione, since he realized how nice she really was, when she covered-up for him when he stole veritaserum from Snape, since then, they didn't exactly become friends, but acquaintance.

" You filthy little blood traitor!" Pansy cried "Why don't you go find you little mudblood princess and have plenty of filthy mudblood babies, right Drakie?" she said as she sat onto his lap.

"A purblood and a mudblood give halfbloods you idiot !" Blaise roared still clutching his stomach with laughter. " And if Granger really is what everyone elses says, I doubt he would mind." He continued, cooling down.

" I got to do my patrolling, I'll see you guys later." He said making a motion to leave.

" Am coming with you" Pansy said grabbing his hand, " I don't want you to suffer alone with that mudblood." She said putting her head high. Draco felt a wave of anger creep up his body quickly.

" Sod off Pansy!" he yelled she opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off.. " I think I can take care of myself without your help, thank you very much" he said sarcastically, walking out of the compartment. He was walking so quickly, he bumped into someone and knocked them down, he saw a wand rolling and piked it up. He smirked when he saw it was Granger. He liked the feeling of her being so vulnerable, without her wand, or Potty and Weasel to protect her.

" Well, well, well, if it isn't Wonder girl, mudblood granger!" He said. As she looked up, He took a closer look, and could now clearly see what Pucey and Blaise had been talking about. _Damn! Granger actually has a face under that beast of her hair, and not a bad one! _He thought, then mentally slapped himself for even cheking her out.


End file.
